Thursday, November 5, 2015

The Lemorian Crest, by Hannah L. Clark
2015, 436p, Clean YA Fantasy
My Rating=4 Stars
Source: Received a copy from the author for an honest review

After being raised from infancy in Boston, Mass., Noria (a.k.a Norah Lukens) has no idea what to expect upon entering New Cobbogoth, where she never would have guessed that paths of light can make you vanish; doors can lead to realms both near and far; myths and legends are actual history; a mere kiss can seal two souls as one; and, of course, a stone is never “just a stone.” Her Uncle Jack’s stories never could have prepared her for the magical and dangerous place her native realm is turning out to be.

When the Gihara’s promises begin to crumble, her best friend and soul-mate Jamus (a.k.a. James Riley) is in more danger than ever. Then when his father Lylend abandons her to search for an ancient relic called The Lemorian Crest and she is taken captive by the very people she’s risked everything to save, Noria begins to lose faith in the Cobbogothian gods and the mission they sent her home to accomplish.

Only when a series of new friendships and loyalties are forged in the most peculiar of places, does Noria dare hope again. Hope for Jamus’ safety, for their future together, and for the survival of the entire Cobbogothian race.

I loved the first book in this series, Uncovering Cobbogoth(you can read my review here) and was excited to find out the second book was out! Once again, I immediately fell in love with the cover!Noria is now in New Cobbogoth and is sent to meet up with Lylend on her own. She is given a few things to help her and instructions on when and where to meet him. She's upset and feeling abandoned (understandably). Things don't go as planned, though, and she's taken captive. There are twists and turns along the way to get her to the place she needs to be in order to accomplish her mission.Throughout the book, Noria is trying to figure out how things work and how she fits into the overall plan. She makes some friends and enemies and at times isn't sure who she can trust. Lev, Zuli, Iolyt and Pieter are all great characters and I'm looking forward to learning more about each of them. Noria is constantly looking for James and is troubled by what she learns. I missed him in this book and am interested to see what happens with them in the future.This book started off a bit slow to me. The information was essential, especially later in the book, but I kept hoping Noria would meet up with someone and have some conversation. Once she did, the story picked up and I had a hard time putting it down. I'm still fascinated with this world. It's complex and interesting. This is going to be a seven book series so the story is far from over. Once again, the ending isn't a cliffhanger, but I'm excited to learn more about this world and the secrets it contains!

Hannah L. Clark lives with her husband and two children in the Rocky Mountains. She has always known she would be a storyteller. In 2006 she graduated from Utah Valley University with a bachelor's degree in English and immediately began writing her first novel.

Uncovering Cobbogoth was Clark's first book in the seven book Cobbogoth series based on her mythological brain-child, The Legend of the Cobbogothians. It was released in May 2014 through Cedar Fort Publishing. Book 2 in the series, The Lemorian Crest will be released in Summer 2015.

Clark loves running, mythology, singing while playing the guitar, herbal tea, escaping into imaginary worlds, and being with her peeps. Like her heroine Norah, she also kind of believes that trees might have souls, but must clarify that she has never actually hugged a tree. The closest she has ever come to that kind of bizarre behavior was the time she hugged the pillars outside Harry Potter Land. Which, all things considered, is not bizarre at all if you take into account how exquisitely happy she was to finally be there. ;-)